


The Other One

by stainhermouthred



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Natasha appears in one scene, Smut, implied Natasha/James
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-13 21:06:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4537365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stainhermouthred/pseuds/stainhermouthred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He never calls. He shows up at her doorstep and she’s either there or not. When she is, he smiles at her like she’s the best thing in the world and holds up the bottle of wine. Or whisky. She opens the door without hesitation and lets him into her apartment.<br/>(You all know these stories with Nat being the third party and Bobbi being the obstacle in her relationship with Clint? Well this is NOT that kind of story)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_other_woman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_other_woman/gifts).



> I'll write a oneshot, I said.  
> It'll be a short one, I said.  
> This was written for my friend Lexi,  
> it's so much longer than I originally planned but I think I love it,  
> so have fun reading, it's MCU compliant (Age of ultron excluded)

He never calls. He shows up at her doorstep and she’s either there or not. When she is, he smiles at her like she’s the best thing in the world and holds up the bottle of wine. Or whisky. She opens the door without hesitation and lets him into her apartment.

They watch whatever movie is currently on and talk about their lives, laughing at the stories the other is telling and at some point he gets quiet and she knows exactly what happened. She can also see that he feels guilty that he keeps coming here. She’s not. They’re not in love. They’re something. Friends perhaps. An item of sorts.

And he’s with someone else most of the time. Someone being Bobbi’s friend, Natasha. Redhead was taken in by Clint who decided not to kill her while she was still working for KGB. Then he kept checking up on her, trying to negotiate with Fury her usefulness. That was a moment when he often asked Bobbi for advice about how to approach Fury and if what he was doing was right. They were stubborn but they trusted each other’s judgment. So she told him to take Natasha as his partner. It crossed his mind of course but hearing it from blonde’s mouth had settled the matter for good. He and Nat started working together, becoming the best team in the entire agency and Bobbi laughed at him that at least they counted as a team and she could still call herself the best solo agent there.

The thing is, Clint got attached to Nat and vice versa. They would go out casually to eat a burrito or watch some stupid comedy after a stressful mission and one day he flat out told her that she meant more to him than anyone else. And that was it. When Clint was telling Bobbi the story she asked him to leave out the juicy details. He didn’t and told her everything laughing at her rolling her eyes. He was very thorough though and Bobbi suspected that thanks to him, she could make Natasha feel really good if she ever wanted to try sleeping with her. She didn’t try but couldn’t really say it didn’t cross her mind…

But there was the other side of this. Clint and Nat weren’t in a typical relationship. They were together a month or  two then they would almost bite each other’s heads off and break up for about two weeks or worse, decide that one wasn’t worth the other and then the break-up would last about a month. It happened about ten times already and every time, when that happened, Clint landed on Bobbi’s doorstep. At first it was purely with intention to talk but now they stopped pretending.

And here they were. She looked at him with a curious expression and an easy smile on her face. He was handsome and there was a burden on his shoulders. Once he asked her why she didn’t mind sleeping with him when she knew he loved Tasha. She said that she valued him enough to tell him if something felt off about their dynamic. So when he took her wine glass out of her hand and put it next to his on her coffee table, she smiled wider and let him grab her waist to bring her closer. That’s how things were working out for them. When she was smiling her eyes brightened up and he stopped for a second so he could just look at her. His beautiful Bobbi. His some sort of best friend ever. And hot best friend as it is.

“Keep stalling sport and I’ll think I’m not attractive enough compared to Romanov” she teased sitting on her legs looking at him with that teasing expression of hers.

He didn’t answer immediately, instead he kissed her hard, pulling her onto his lap. Their lips tasted like the wine, cheap, semi-sweet one. She pulled herself a millimeter away from his mouth:

“That’s good, you can bring me more of this brand”

“Shut up, I’m trying to seduce you” his mouth wandered to her neck and she started moving her hips back and forth producing a moan out of his mouth vibrating against her skin.

“Mm, not so easy, is it?” she sighed, her hands moving to his hair and tugging at it. He stopped sucking at her neck for a second after he heard that.

“There is literally no way to answer this question that ends up with me getting sex” he whined.

“Is it?” her lips quirked and he got up with Bobbi still wrapped around him, walking to her bedroom.

“You’re awful. What if I just wanted to propose to you right now and you just ruined the moment?”

She leaned in so her lips were touching his when she answered “You couldn’t handle me.”

The next thing she knew, she was kneeling on the bed taking his T-shirt off, watching his abs hungrily and tracing his muscles with her fingers. He was all but purring at her touch and she smiled at him before kissing those muscles of his. She traced them with her mouth, feeling salty skin with her tongue while her hands travelled to his back. He had a beautiful back and she could watch it every morning of her life. That was her weak spot.. When she mouthed her way up to his neck, she pinched his ass, making his yelp and she could feel the sound under her lips, it felt amazing.

“You’re overdressed” he growled.

“Well that’s not my fault” she mocked him and got back to exploring his glorious muscles but she was interrupted by him tugging at her hair away to move her away from his body.

Still holding her hair in one hand, he kissed her hard, the second hand opening her buttoned up shirt in a record time. He parted from her to see her body being revealed to him as he slided the shirt down her arms and tossed it away on a floor next to the bed. Her skin was so smooth when he traced his fingers over her back looking for a clasp of her  bra. When he managed to snap it open, he tossed the bra away, watching her breasts bounce and stopping himself from pouncing on them. Bobbi liked enthusiasm but not that kind. She was different than Nat. He couldn’t think about it…

Instead he focused on freeing her from her pants and then getting rid of his own. And just like this, they were both in their underwear, pressed against each other, moving, teasing. He kissed his way down her collarbone to her breast, sucking hickeys around her nipple until he took it in her mouth at licked at it softly. The feeling, so different from sharp suction, made her moan loudly and him to laugh silently.  He worried at it with his teeth until he bit down sharply and she bucked against his hard erection. He could play her body like an instrument and she loved every second of it.

They were attracted to each other, they trusted each other, they matched.

He slided his hand down slowly, drawing shapes on her skin and leaving trail of goosebombs. She grabbed his chin between his thumb and index finger and directed  his lips to hers. She loved kissing him while he was teasing her. She knew he did as well because he could swallow her gasps and moans and that was building up his ego. Like right now when his hand wandered into her underwear and was currently circling around her entrance and when she started writhing and squirming to get more friction, he withdrew it and pulled down her panties.

She watched him with half closed eyes, smiling sweetly. It wasn’t “oh god you almost died” sex, nor “you are worthy, believe that you idiot”. Just a lazy fuck and they enjoyed it just as much.

“I am not laying on my back anymore, lay back” Bobbi hissed after a second, her tone indicating she was in pain.

Clint frowned for a second but it was soon replaced with a sly smile that Bobbi grew to either love or fear. She wasn’t sure which applied now. He took her by the waist and flipped her on her stomach making her yelp. He pulled her ass up, her upper body resting on her forearms and she huffed out a laugh as he put his cock against her ass.

“You’ve been just waiting for the excuse”  she teased, rotating her hips a little.

“Maybe” she could hear the smugness in his voice and shook her head lightly. His hands  were moving around her ass and one moved to her back, tracing her injuries gently, wondering silently what happened. Her skin as heavily bruised and cut in few places, nothing  major but it looked painful.

“Later” she growled.

He grabbed her hips and entered her slowly. She sighed and wiggled her ass to urge him to move. He thrusted into her rhythmically hearing her “oh my god” panted between the thrusts. The pleasure has been building inside them steadily and she started pushing her hips back to pick up the pace, her mind a little hazy from the sensation of being taken like that and hearing Clint grunting behind her. She could feel him struggling with the pace, probably being closer to the edge than he would like so she rubbed her clit in quick circles making herself come after just few strokes. She came clenching her walls around him and moaning louder than she should and then Clint pulled out and spilled his load on her ass.

 Breathing heavily, he collapsed next to her and watched her with a lazy smile on his face. “Ready to tell me what happened to your back?”

“Mhm, pass me a tissue, I don’t want random body fluids on my bed sheet” she murmured.

Clint  laughed at her but took the tissue and wiped her skin himself, dabbing gently. “Random body fluids? Really?” he damped it into a trash can standing right next to the bed and laid on his side, tracing his fingers in between her injuries on her back.

“Shut up.”

“So what happened?” Major injuries or not, he was concerned.

“I was on an assignment in England. Met some guy, we got in trouble and that idiot triggered an alarm even after I told him to be careful and we were overpowered. Hence I got shoved around a little and my back hurts as hell. But mission was a success after all.” she attempted something like a shrug but it looked more like she had a seizure for second. Ridiculous, Clint chuckled and got up.

“Moron. I’ll get you an icepack” he pulled on his pants, heading straight to the freezer. He didn’t find an icepack but frozen vegetables would have to do. When he turned around, he smiled at the picture of Bobbi sprawled naked on her bed, her hair sprawled on the pillow. She looked hot and she certainly didn’t have to waste her time with him if she didn’t  want to. Everything was easy with the two of them even if it was only on and off thing.

He sat down next to her and kept the cold pack against her bruises. Judging by the relief on her face, she was in more pain than she let on. “Mmm,  I think I love you right now” Bobbi put her head under her arms and looked at him with her blue curious eyes, catching his own, just as blue but brighter.

“So, what happened while I was away? Sky has opened and there was an Invasion which I missed by the way…But you wouldn’t be here if everything else was fine.”

He looked spooked for a second. Like he wanted to run away and never come back. On the other hand she has probably heard already at SHIELD that he was one of the people compelled by Loki. Didn’t make it any less painful to remember. What she was asking was Nat. Like she always did. Usually before sex, not after.

“I attacked her. I was compromised. I didn’t… I couldn’t do it. I needed time to decompress…”

“But you’re here now. You should be with her” she wasn’t exactly scolding him, more like slapping thing with the obvious.

“Maybe I wanted to ask you to marry me” smugness radiated from him, bastard.

Bobbi smirked up at him and for a second they looked identical daring the other to back off. “Second time today, sorry babe, I’m not a marrying type”

“That’s not a no”

“Not a yes either” she grinned at him “So why are you here having hot sex with me when you could have sex with a certain redhead and then have some deep emotional conversation with her and be awfully romantic and all that crap?”

“She’s babysitting Cap. I didn’t want to intrude. We all need to find a new place for ourselves in this new reality.”

Bobbi closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about his answer. She didn’t get a chance to respond because they heard pounding from the door. Bobbi groaned and put her robe on before walking and opening the door only to find Natasha herself.

“Well, that’s awkward, come on in”

“is he here?” Natasha looked desperate, blonde felt a little sorry for her..

“Of course” she snorted.

Bobbi let Natasha inside and went to the bedroom to both get dressed and kick Clint the hell out so he could talk to the redhead. When she entered the room he looked petrified. “Clint, get the hell over yourself, she knows we sleep together while you two are not together. No harm done. Go, talk to her”

He looked like someone kicked him but obediently left and Bobbi could pull out her jeans and t-shirt from the wardrobe, hearing voices of her guests, too quiet for her to understand what exactly they were saying but they were at least talking so that’s good. She considered staying in the room so they could sort all their issues out but decided against it since it was her flat and it would be suspicious.

When she came back, she saw Nat curled around Clint’s side and his hand tracing patterns on her back. They made a cute picture. She told them that and Clint smiled shyly while Nat stuck out her tongue and asked how was their sex.

“If you came half an hour earlier you could see it yourself. Or join us” Bobbi said taking orange juice and drinking straight from the bottle. “So you made up?”

“Yeah. We’re good” Clint was busy staring at Nat so women talked to each other.

“So.. Avengers… You couldn’t go more public if you tried” Bobbi remembered Nat’s talk about privacy. Now, it was hilarious.

“Yeah, I haven’t really planned it. Someone needed to save the world.” She was joking, relaxed, surrounded by both people who cared about her.

“I guess”

Then they moved on and talked about their usual lives, whatever was going on since they parted last time.

Natasha and Bobbi met three days after Nat was brought in. Blonde was on her way to meet with Clint but Fury decided he had to talk about something only with him so Nat left the conference room nearly bumping into Bobbi.

_Walking quickly through SHIELD headquarters, Bobbi was distracted, thinking about the few days off that were waiting for her, the only thing left was taking Clint for dinner because she did promised him. She couldn’t wait. She was so lost in thought she didn’t notice when the door of conference room suddenly opened and a redhead walking out of there scared her almost to death._

_“He’ll stay there for a while” said redhead._

_Bobbi blinked and realized who exactly was standing in front of her. Natasha Romanov. The Black Widow._

_“Oh, right. He and Fury. We haven’t met yet, Bobbi Morse.” Most of agents weren’t trusting the Widow, let alone being kind to her. Bobbi thought it was childish as hell and she was above it._

_“I know who you are, Clint talks about you”_

_Bobbi raised her eyebrows and smiled lightly. “Good to know but I believe in proper introductions”_

_Natasha shook her head a little but extended her hand  “Natasha Romanov”. They shook hands and Bobbi told her a little about herself, meaningless stuff that could be easily found at her file, counting on at least semi-friendly relationship  between them._

_Turns out Russian assassin and scientist turned spy has found common language. It started out small, mutual respect for each other’s skills  but soon the teasing and true interest in each other’s well being has made them best friends. Clint neither expected that when he saved Nat, nor when he first saw them interacting._

To think of it, the three of them were always close somehow. Clint brought Nat to work for SHIELD which made them partners. Bobbi brought Nat into social life of the agency becoming her best friend.

Right now they were chatting about something meaningless with Clint throwing something witty sometimes. It was familiar and good. After an hour or two she told them to get lost because she had a briefing at sunrise and then another excursion to London to meet Mr Reckless. She told them his name was Lance Hunter and they joked for a while about his last name. Yeah, she made fun of him in England as well.

When they left Bobbi lost her robe and wandered straight to the shower. Standing under the spray of hot water, she thought about that guy from England.  She wasn’t exactly sure who he was but he was important and assigned to her. Physically he was like an opposite of Clint. Brown hair, dark eyes and unlike Clint he was almost the same height as her. Barton was way higher. The reason she compared both of them at all was the personality resemblance. They were both reckless and snarky, only Hunter with douche British accent. They were intelligent and sexy and they could do whatever it takes to save lives of people. They were loyal. They matched her with skills.

Bobbi rested her forehead against the wall of the shower trying to stop thinking about more intimate resemblance. Would it be this good? She reached for the memory of the moment they met. It was in the freak-ishly dark safe house.

_She remembered freezing cold and humidity. The safe house was dark and definitely empty for a longer amount of time. She came in and took off plastic covering the couch and coffee table. She started pulling out her weapons. She put down her baton staves when she heard the lock being picked and a man with a beard and a pistol coming inside. She looked at him carefully and said the password, quietly, surely._

_“oh good, sweetheart, I had enough shooting for a day” his tone was patronizing and he sounded like a douche with this accent._

_“We have a mission, if you think it will be done without shooting you’re naïve” she said, trying to make out who exactly is he. And she was focused. Or bitch. They called her both._

_“Just optimistic, love” he grinned and sat down in a couch next to her. And then the power went off and the room turned black._

_“Hell of a safe house” she deadpanned._

_“You gotta a name, love?” he shifted so his body was touching hers and she felt more interested than she should._

_“Bobbi, you should try using it” Definitely, douche._

_“Well, Bobbi, we have time to pass” If it was possible he moved even closer and she got up, almost stumbling over a coffee table._

_“You’re not getting lucky, sport. And we have a plan to look over”_

_Strangely enough he listened to her and reduced the touch-y stuff to the little brushes against her body that weren’t all that irritating. Then they managed to adjust the plan so it would come close to perfect. It still involved them being shot at, near the extraction point  after they would evacuate their mark out of the danger zone._

_The plan was almost perfect. Her partner was not and before she realized they were surrounded and being beaten up with something heavy. They fought. They won. But Bobbi couldn’t walk from pain for two days and her reckless partner got shot. But at least the mission was a success. It never meant to be super secret or anything. Just job to be done._

_She didn’t get to say goodbye to him later but she was told that she was going to work with him again being some kind of a liaison for the USA. She was fine with it, it’s not like she had anything else to do with her time. And the fact that he wasn’t too hard on the eyes certainly helped._

Water was getting colder and Bobbi cursed herself for standing there for so long.  She got out of shower and went over her mission plan for the next day. Negotiations. That was just perfect since her partner had next to no patience but she was willing to do her best and stop him from being rush. She could do that.

***

For the first time in a long time Clint was actually happy. He had a job where he could help people. The “incident” was long forgotten and that’s because of his amazing girlfriend, Nat, who wouldn’t let him beat himself up over this. She moved to his place and they spent every moment they could together. Which wasn’t all that often, work successfully kept them away but if anything the reunions were so much better like that.

They would watch a movie or sometimes cook together. He was so much better at the latter than Nat. They still fought of course but it was never bad enough that they would break up so between his happy relationship and work, he didn’t really had time to contact Bobbi. What’s more, he didn’t even know if she was  still in New York since he overheard somewhere in the city that she left to the UK. He should have heard that from her.

So one day he asked Nat if she wanted to come over to Bobbi’s place. Catch up. Redhead told him that she had a mission, something with pirates taking over the SHIELD ship and she couldn’t but he should. Clint smiled at her and kissed her deeply before they parted ways, she went to pick up Cap and he … to see his friend.

Bobbi lived in Brooklyn as most of agents here, she owned her own not so little flat at the top floor. Climbing there wasn’t exactly exhausting for him but he was a little slowed down by guilt. He used to spend time with her even if it was just talking. Not just. The talking was what brought them together and wherever they were in their lives they always found the time to chat. And now the contact was gone for over six months. At the top floor the guilt has settled for good in his stomach and breathing deeply, he knocked on her door.

When it opened he saw Bobbi in her robe that she put on only  when she was naked underneath and didn’t have time to change, her hair was ruffled and she looked incredibly happy. “Look who’s here” she gave him a once-over and smiled. But it wasn’t her ‘I’m happy to see you’ smile. It was ‘Good to see you but get lost’ smile and he had never seen him directed at him. It stung like hell.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you, we haven’t really met up in a while” he felt awkward, he never felt awkward with her.

“I’ve been in England most of the time, that would be difficult.” She said. She didn’t invite him in, they were still talking through the doorstep.

“What were you even doing in England?”

“Playing liaison, shooting bad guys, I got married, met the Queen” she was throwing off phrases as if they were nothing. They weren’t.

“You got married?” he was in shock and she looked irritated.

“And I met the Queen. If I see one more disapproving reaction I will rip off your balls, Natasha be damned”

“Sorry, Birdie. Didn’t want to upset you… so how about that catching up?”

“Tomorrow. Now, go home to Tasha. Goodbye” she closed the door practically into his face and he was left feeling something new inside him. Betrayal? How could she just ignore him like that? She was married which was shocking, why was she so pissed? He would support her. Would. Suddenly some things clicked. When he was with Nat, Bobbi was the only supporter he had, the rest was telling him that the Widow will bite his head off. But he had Bobbi who understood. Now she was married and she had no one to confide to since she used to that to him. And Nat. Both unavailable for her for six months.

Okay, so she was right to be pissed.

He sighed and thought about the first time they’ve met.

_He was residing in Los Angeles._

_Strangely enough it was one of his less appealing missions, he was supposed to guard a huge corporation for a month or so. He got a little house on the beach, his own team and a word from Coulson not to get in trouble by being a dick. He promised he would try._

_He thought he did a good job. Protecting the company was more boring than he initially thought and was about checking out the reports of his associates. Boring. But he tried being nice to literally everyone so no compliants yet. But then someone actually tried sneaking around the building. Someone good enough that his team hadn’t noticed a thing._

_But he did._

_She was quiet. She was fast and she was wearing a uniform with blue elements. She was blonde with her long hair flowing over her back and it was what betrayed her. A flicker of her hair in California sun._

_He aimed an arrow at her and stood there, two of them in the alley, saying:_

_“Now, get back and go away unless you want me to send this baby through your arm”_

_She lifted her head and looked at him like she could take him in her sleep. Mocking. Confident. Cocky._

_“I have a business to attend to, so get lost.” She licked her lips._

_“Business at the back of the building?  Sneaking around? I don’t think so, not on my watch anyway” He pulled the string tighter, fully prepared to shoot. What he didn’t notice was the blonde throwing something in his direction, hitting his hand and making him drop his bow. Bitch._

_He took half a second to see that what hit him was a baton and then he had his gun aimed at her. And vice versa. Blonde was smiling  at him charmingly and he looked properly at her face this time. Her eyes were blue, she was wearing glasses… goggles really, with yellow glass. Her uniform was blue-ish on the sides and had white strap going all the  way from her chest down her tights. Her thin mouth were smiling and both her hands kept the gun. Trained on him._

_“You’re good.” She offered, her tone cheerful._

_“You damaged my bow”_

_“Well, you were going to shoot me. Seemed reasonable”_

_“Who the hell are you?”  he was kind of impressed that she managed to knock the bow out of his hands but right now he was even more pissed about that._

_“How about we put our guns away and talk like normal people?” She winked at him._

_“Sure, you first” He tightened his grip on the gun._

_“Oh, fine. My name is Bobbi Morse. Codename: Mockingbird. Now, I happen to know who you are. Clint Barton. Hawkeye. What I want to know is what are you doing here, sport. Because you’re kind of screwing up my mission just about now.” She frowned a little._

_Clint took few calming breaths and still keeping eyes and gun trained on the woman in front of him he tapped the communicator in his ear._

_“What do you want Barton?” asked Phil, clearly irritated._

_“Bobbi Morse. You know that bird? Also what the heck is she doing in here?”_

_Phil snorted. “Bird? Really Barton? Yeah, I know her, one of the top SHIELD agents, I’m surprised you don’t know her. And if she’s there it’s probably Fury’s fault. Just let it go.”_

_“Easy for you to say Phil. Also, that bird owes me a new bow.”_

_“I suggest you say that to her”_

_Coulson disconnected and Bobbi was watching him with a raised eyebrow. “So I am in database. Surprise, surprise” She grinned at him still mocking._

_“Shut up, Birdie. What are you doing here?” He was calmer but still pissed, this time on Fury. Damn him and behind the back operations._

_“Coulson told you to drop it” she half-sang. She was amused by his irritation._

_“Humour me”_

_“What can I be doing? I’m here to steal something of course. Boss wants something from that warehouse and the fact that you caught me means that you’re pretty capable and had a lot of luck”_

_He  didn’t even notice when he hid the gun, he realized it only when she put away hers. He took few steps in her direction. Taking the baton from the ground and holding it out for her. When she grabbed it, he used it to yank her into him. She collided with his chest and send him a glare. Murderous one. He thought that he should be dead just from that. “There was no luck here, sweetheart, just my skills” He smiled now too, his flirtatious grin that sends girls to their knees._

_“You keep saying yourself that” She yanked the baton out of his hand and then secured it on her belt._

_“I can prove it. Once you’re done with your job, we might go get a drink”_

_Bobbi looked at him like he was crazy for a second but shrugged and replied: “Sure, sport. Let’s get a drink later”_

_She got what she wanted and he didn’t ask. Few hours later she showed up at his workplace looking nothing like an agent from before. Wearing white sundress instead of a uniform and a handbag instead of her batons. She looked younger than before but still had that mocking expression on her face. “Ready, sport? You’re buying”_

_They went to the bar at the beach and ordered their drinks while getting to know each other. Clint told Bobbi a little bit about his past in circus and heard the story about her being a biochemist and working on a super soldier serum._

_“Wait, so you wanted to basically recreate Captain America?” She saw his excited look and smiled at it._

_“I almost did! But then the costs were too high and no one else beside my group saw the potential in this research. Maybe except for Fury but that didn’t matter enough to give us millions of dollars for experiments.” She actually looked disappointed in that, watching her drink with renewed interest._

_“Well, it’s awesome it should matter and if you guys say it’s worth a shit, it probably is, Fury be damned”_

_The rest of the evening was all nice chat and teasing. Finally Bobbi put away her drink and took Clint’s hand smiling at him sweetly and leading him out of the crowded bar, taking him to his own beach house. He didn’t bother asking how did she know, of course she did._

_He watched her being fun and careless, now walking into his house laughing and turning around to bring him closer and kiss him. He managed to close the door behind him before he was all over her. His hand buried into her long hair, his lips on hers, the other roaming over her body keeping her close._

_She licked his bottom lip and hooked her right leg over his hip. Her dress rode up a little but he got a hint and helped her hop up so she could cling to him her legs around his waist. She smelt like some exotic fruit and he couldn’t get enough of her. Judging by her breath and her fingers gripping his hair she couldn’t either._

He remembered that night perfectly. The moment when he took off that dress. The way she looked like naked, smiling with her long hair and shining eyes making her a goddess to him. He remembered for a fleeting moment thinking that this was it, that’s where  he wanted to spend the rest of his life. In the arms of this woman he barely knew. But he didn’t know Nat then… Anyway, he left early in the morning. Emergency. He didn’t leave a note, nothing. And next time they’ve met, they didn’t mention it. They never mention it outside of their apartments. It wasn’t even supposed to happen, that thing that became their lives. Meaningless flings with someone who has become his best friend and has never hold the fact that he left her hanging in the morning after against him.  It wasn’t meaningless though. He cared about her, she was his best friend, yes, but he felt drawn towards her. She was his match in fight, she challenged him, she knew him, she understood him. They fought a lot, they made up quickly but never once has one of them plainly ignored the other for this long nor close the door in front of the other’s face.

Clint clenched his jaw. He screwed up but so did she now. He wasn’t going to let it ruin their whole relationship. He would come back tomorrow.

They could sort their problems out, tomorrow.

Turns out, tomorrow never came.

SHIELD fell.

***

Everything went to hell. Hydra has taken over SHIELD. Bucky, Cap’s friend turned out to be a Winter Soldier. And Nat left him for good. She told him that Bucky… Winter Soldier meant something to her in the past, more than anything and that she couldn’t be with Clint. Not anymore.

He understood.

It didn’t hurt any less. He was also on the run for a moment. No SHIELD. No paycheck and he was not working for Hydra. Natasha left for Kiev. Cap was somewhere. And most of his friends were either dead, traitors or on the run as well. He heard rumors that Bobbi was Hydra. He prayed that she wasn’t. He prayed that she wasn’t dead either. He could of course track her and approach her but he didn’t. He wouldn’t really be able to take her into custody. Not yet.

It’s been few months and although he didn’t know answers, he needed them to function like a normal human being. So he tracked her down against his better judgment. It wasn’t easy, took him weeks of just watching one area for a longer amount of time. When she finally she showed up, he almost missed her. Her hair was brown in a tight ponytail and he really was looking for a blonde. It was naïve. Of course she dyed it. Following her to the safe house from the distance wasn’t easy. Too close and she would notice. He would know, sneaking out on her was out of question. Ever.

She had a studio in one of the buildings of Chinatown. It was crowded so no one really noticed her getting in or out of it. He came close when she was opening the door so when  she pushed the door a little he managed to push both of them inside with his body and shut the door behind him.

Then he felt something colliding with his head and the world turned black.

He woke up pain first. His head where he was hit hurt as hell but he didn’t think he had a cut there or anything really. Just a massive bruise. He focused on his eyes and with a sheer force of will opened them. In front of him, in the chair, sat Bobbi, leaned down a little, watching him as if she wasn’t sure  what to make of him.

“God, Clint I don’t know what to do. And that’s a first, believe me.”

He wanted to touch her, to tell it would be okay. He tried moving but found out that he was tied to a chair. And tied in a way that made it to him impossible to move any of his limbs. He felt like his heart jumps up to his throat. He felt something like despair burning in his chest.

“Bobbi...” he swallowed “It doesn’t have to be this way”

“Really? Because let’s start with a simple fact that I don’t know which side are you on and depending on whatever you’re answer will be, I might have to kill you.” She looked pissed. Again.

And he was confused, as always.

She looked tired, dressed in black, with as he now noticed a dagger in one hand and a gun next to her. She was moving the weapon around nervously and it was unsettling him. He noticed that it was the one he gave her some time ago. 7,5 inch long blade. Used in close in combat. It was beautiful and dangerous. That’s why he gave it to her in the first place.

“Bobbi what is going on here?” he asked, quietly, trying to calm her. Failed.

“Why are you here? Why couldn’t you stay away?” she looked even more upset than she was a moment ago.

“I was looking for you. I needed to make sure that …” he didn’t finish that sentence. And Bobbi laughed. Horrible, hysterical laughter.

“That I’m not Hydra? How is it working out for you? Am I Hydra?” she got up and walked to him, making him tilt back his head so he could look at her.

He thought it was cruel what she was doing. If she was Hydra she would definitely do that if she wanted to hurt him. But why hurt him, she could just tell him and kill him. He took a good look on her face, jaw clenched and her eyes hard but underneath that was something else. Tension. Fear.

“You’re not.” His voice was quiet but insistent and he saw her close her eyes for a second. She wanted him to believe her but she couldn’t do it to herself. She thought she was weak.

“Neither are you.” She looked so incredibly sad that the image he had some time ago of a girl in white dress, smiling at  him, was like a cruel joke. “I work there though. What do I do with you Clint?”  she was whispering,  dropping the dagger on the floor, her hands resting on his shoulders, one wondering up his neck to stroke his cheek. He leaned his face into her hand.

“If anyone sees you they’ll take you in. Clint, oh god, they don’t even torture anymore, they brainwash everyone useful…”

“Would you kill me? If I was Hydra?” he asked looking up at her. She opened her mouth but closed it after a second. She wanted to say “yes”. But couldn’t.

“That’s not fair.” She said instead. Her voice was close to breaking. She was an excellent actress with an enemy or when lives of thousands depended on it. But they were alone. And he was tied up. Not going anywhere.

“You should and you know it”

“Stop it.” She walked away from him. She paced for a moment before she said “I’m undercover. It’s official. I have a supervisor so don’t go around asking about me, okay? I don’t exist to you.” Her lips were pressed together tightly.

“Okay” Bobbi nodded to herself and came closer again this time picking up the dagger she dropped earlier. He saw complete trust in his eyes and that was not something she hoped to see ever on anyone’s face. Actually, he looked like he was relieved and she was going to ask him about it. But not yet.

She kneeled in front of him and cut through the rope around his ankles and calves. Technically she shouldn’t do it with the dagger but she wasn’t even sure if she had something like scissors here. She moved behind him to free his arms. She got up and put away the dagger safely to the drawer. Behind her Clint got up and stretched for a while, waiting for her to turn around and looked him in the eyes. She was stalling. She was doing the right thing with her mission undercover. She joined SHIELD to take part in these kind of missions. But that was before it all went to hell. There was no SHIELD. She was undercover and if she was caught she would be dead on the spot. Clint was here and he really shouldn’t, he should be in Paris, Tokyo or really anywhere else than here with Natasha. And she didn’t know if her now ex-husband was alive. She started shaking and before she realized warm hands had been tugging at her arms.

Clint was right behind her, turning her around gently and then hugging her.

She cried. She haven’t done that in a really long time but so much happened lately and she didn’t have an outlet. So she let it all go now. She cried, shivering violently, listening to Clint’s murmuring that it’s going to be okay, keeping her close and stroking her back. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck and she could smell gun powder and soap he kept in his apartment. It was familiar. And soothing.

She cried for her past and for the future. For those people she sent to their deaths because of her cover. For her marriage. For her friendship with Clint. For her family who she convinces she was dead. Nothing would ever be the same. They all crossed too many lines. When the tears finally stopped she stayed in his arms, not moving.

“By the way, I got a divorce” she said, her voice hoarse.

“Wanna talk about it?” Considering the mess their lives has become she laughed at the thought of discussing something as trivial as divorce.

“No, just… I wanted to introduce you to him when I was married.” She didn’t get  a chance to because he stopped talking to her. That was left unsaid.

His fingers took her by the chin and tilted her head back so she could look at him. He was smiling. Beautiful smile of his. Compensating for his mistake.

“If you got divorced, he didn’t deserve you, let alone being introduced to anyone else in your life” She laughed a little, her eyes red from crying. He was still holding her by the chin.

“I really want to kiss you right now.” He said after a moment of carefully studying her face.

“Don’t.”

She expected a “why”, anything really. But he just smiled sadly still touching her face. “It’s wrong,  isn’t it?”

She nodded slowly.

“Okay, let me fix you dinner or something. I hope you have some food in this place” He was off going through her cupboards before she could blink. She turned around looking at his back as he was pulling out practically everything she had here to eat. “Why are you doing this?”

“I missed you.”

She was sitting by her little  table, watching his back as he was moving around doing whatever he wanted with her food. He left his coat on the couch and now she could see his muscles moving as he was reaching around and finally asked what she always asked about.

“So why did you two break up now?” She was tired. Their little game was fun at times of peace. She liked him, she got great sex and no commitment and she was happy. Then she got married. By impulse really and she felt how it was to be with someone every day. Being a wife was a pain in the ass most of the time but she had someone to vent and sleep next to most of the time and she really didn’t want to admit this but she loved it. And she was connected to Clint with that strange bond of understanding and just getting each other with all their fights and yelling. Kissing him now would feel wrong since she was looking for something more. And he couldn’t be that guy. Not with him loving Nat. She wouldn’t do that to herself.

“We… we had a break before the DC incident” he was stirring something in her frying pan for a moment before he started talking again “then after she came back to me to say that… someone who she knew when she was young, who she thought was dead, appeared in her life again and she was going to help him work out some stuff. She said she  used to love him and she doesn’t know how it’ll turn out but she can’t keep me hanging again so she won’t ever come back to me, not in a way that’s more than friendly.” He tried not to give him a clue that it was Winter Soldier. That was not his story to tell.

Bobbi sat there quietly, thinking about what he said. He didn’t even sound that sorry about this but then, the incident was a long time ago. “I’m sorry” she offered though.

“Don’t be” he put their food on the plates he found and gave one to her sitting on the chair on the other side of the table.

They ate in silence each of them lost in thought. When he noticed she finished he decided to finally talk:

“We should never have done that. We shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have used you this way.” Bobbi eyes shot up to watch his face as he said that. “It was  consensual but it was always me who came by, most of the time I initiated it even if we both knew these fights with Nat were just fights and I’d be with her within two weeks.”

He got quiet and Bobbi was looking at him wide-eyed looking almost like that girl on the beach. She hadn’t said a thing though and he felt even worse having vocalized  what he’s been thinking for a long time. “I am so sorry Bobbi. For that. And for having guts to tell you I want to kiss you. I’m sorry” Clint was watching her with his eyes begging for forgiveness.

“Shut up. It was consensual. I’m a grown woman. I had fun. Now everything went to hell. And I don’t want only fun anymore. If that means I won’t get some for the next ten years so be it” she snapped.

She  looked at him with fire in her eyes so sure of everything she was saying and upset that he made it about him. It wasn’t about him.

“What are you saying?” He was careful with his words. He shouldn’t be. They were friends.

“That I don’t regret anything. I just changed.”

There was a tension in the room and not a good kind. He looked like he wanted to say something but at the same time something was keeping his mouth shut. To be honest it suddenly felt like being in the room with a stranger, none of them liked it. She was avoiding looking at his face, deciding that looking somewhere behind him was so much better.

“Everything was so easy on that beach in L.A. …” he didn’t mean to say that. He slipped because he was thinking about it earlier but her eyes immediately found his face as she replied quickly:

“Well yeah, one night stands are usually easy.” There was venom in her tone and it wasn’t fair, it was a long time ago and she forgotten all about it till now.

To her surprise Clint looked hurt by that and after taking few breathes, he looked her in the eyes:

“It wasn’t supposed to be just one night. Right there and then, knowing you only for a few hours I could see my whole life with you. And not like it turned out in the end. I could  see you as my life partner.”

They were staring at each other for a longer moment, neither sure what to make of these confession until Bobbi whispered: “You left me there. Why are you telling me this now?”

“I made a mistake. But I wanted you to know it.” He stood up and got his coat ready to leave again. She wouldn’t ask him that. She wouldn’t.

“If you were with me, there still would be Nat in the picture.” She called behind him. And she did. She felt like an idiot, trying to sound careless.

“No, it wouldn’t. She sneaked up on me and I didn’t know what hit me until I was head over heels and I did love her, truly. But she would have respected if I was in a relationship. And you… I was practically hit in the face with my feelings to you so I ran away.” He looked sincere and so calm as if he made complete peace with the past. She envied him that.

Bobbi bit down on her lower lip, trying to make something out of his words and failing. He came closer and kissed her forehead before whispering “You know, I love you. You knew that long time ago.”

He left.

And he just had to remind her of that beach.

She remembered that, the instant connection between them, the ease in each other’s company, the fact that they could talk about everything. Butterflies in her stomach when she took his hand and led him to his own apartment. She felt like a teenager and it was exhilarating.

When they kissed, she noticed he smelled like the sea and wood and soap. His mouth were so warm, she couldn’t stop kissing him. She didn’t feel so happy to just stand and kiss someone for a very long time. And there was so much more to come. His hands were moving her dress, pulling it up and finally over her head and she stood there just in her white underwear being watched by this man. And it felt amazing. Like she was about to be worshipped.

She loved that feeling, she felt giddy. She always felt like that making love with him. Simply happy. Careless. Cared for. And she  didn’t imagine their life together but she felt like she could have given it a try.

She shook her head. She couldn’t. She had a mission and she was busy and maybe someday she will consider this but now there were bigger things at stake. She needed to be focused.

***

If someone asked her three months ago if her life could get any worse, she would have said “no, I’ve reached rock bottom, now I’m going up” Then she got kidnapped, by freaking Grand Ward of all people. Tortured. And then shot because she didn’t want her ex-husband to die.

She had made an effort to fix things with Hunter. Didn’t work. Now she was laying in the hospital bed and couldn’t really move. She had enough. Doctors said she missed a piece of lung. Apparently there was something wrong with her leg after that bastard broke it. And she didn’t want to look at anyone. She told Hunter she couldn’t do it anymore. When Coulson came she completely ignored him. She ignored everyone. There was a psychiatrist sitting in her room right now, talking nonsense and all she cared about was that she couldn’t move.

Two things have caught her attention out of all the rubbish people where telling her. First, the psychiatrist telling her that she would have to wait a little before going to the field and she got a reaction too, Bobbi growled that she will never get back to the field. The second thing was and  Skye coming over, trying not to look overly excited telling her that Hawkeye the Avenger was here, asking how was she doing and how in hell did she met an Avenger. She didn’t say a thing in response. She felt numb and hadn’t seen him since that evening in her studio in Chinatown.  She listened to Skye’s chatter for a while until girl got bored and left.

The person to finally break her silence for good was Fury himself.

He marched into her room asking what the hell she wanted. That was the lab to work with. And the lab she got. No one questioned her about  leaving the field and she suspected that they knew what happened. No one asked, thank God.  She got a lab and a team and spend most of her days down in the new agency, whatever it was called now, trying to help with her biochemist’s knowledge this time.

She could live like this.

Clint hadn’t called for a longer time and she forgot about him. Until one day she came back from work to see him standing in front of her apartment holding bottle of wine and a sheepish smile.

He didn’t call.

He never calls.

But this time when she let him in he didn’t sat down, ready to open the bottle. Instead he put it down on a table and framed Bobbi’s face with his hands. Looking carefully at her expression, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine”

He exhaled and hugged her tightly, breathing in. It couldn’t have been pleasant smell she had various not so great things in her lab but he hasn’t pulled away just kept her closer than before. And she felt safe.

“I love you too” she said, it was a little muffled against his chest but he understood.

He pulled back, silly grin on his face and his hands back framing her face. “I know. I waited for you to catch up” they laughed at that relieved and for the first time in a longer time actually happy.

“That’s the part where we catch up? Because  my life has been pretty horrible lately” she said throwing her arms around his neck.

“I’ve heard. Mine too. But I don’t want to think about the bad. I want to focus on you.” She was laughing when he kissed her and it was the most enthusiastic kiss she had in ages.

Passionate, hot, mouth sliding relentlessly and teeth nipping softly at the lips. They were clutching at each other, hands tangled into hair, because they were desperate for something they were denying themselves for so long. Clint’s hand trailed along her arm until he found her hand and as she did one day, he led her to her own bedroom, losing his jacket on the way.

She was wearing a blue dress, more appropriate for her work now and she looked confident and sure and happy. The fact that it was partly his doing only made it better. He stood beside her moving his fingers along her arms, leaving goosebombs  on her skin, his lips mouthing at the skin just below her ear making her sigh.

She felt high. He was touching her slowly and it was driving her crazy already. Mouth on her neck stopped just moving against her pulse, he was sucking lightly, gently and she tilted her head back, licking her lips and trying to breathe evenly. His hand went up to rest on her neck and the other pressed her against him. She let out a breathy moan then, he was still sucking at her skin and she couldn’t wait for more, especially since she could feel him at her back. Hard, waiting. He stopped sucking for a second to trace the shell of her ear with his lips and whisper “I love you”. Her heart skipped a beat, she heard that earlier but it was just as exhilarating as the first time he told her.

He unzipped her dress slowly, taking his sweet time with every inch, caressing the skin that was revealed, enjoying the moment. His other hand was still at her neck and it sent shivers down her spine. When he finished with the zipper he took half a step back and let the dress fall off, leaving her exposed to him. He turned her around slowly and she saw that look in his eyes that she saw the first time they’ve slept together. Adoration. And now love.

She wanted to look at him, all of him. Without a work she sneaked her hands beneath his T-shirt and pulled it off over his head, messing up his hair. She traced the lines on his abs with her nails and he groaned, she chuckled before taking a step closer and kissing his neck softly. She was as gentle as he has been, tracing random lines with her tongue and staying longer on the spots that made his breath hitch. In the meantime she unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants down, leaving both of them in their underwear. When he stepped out of them she bit his pulse point and growled.

“Out of curiosity” she said, close enough that he could feel every word she was saying against his neck, her hand wondering to touch his cock through his boxers. “Did you like when I tied you up? Because you did all that shit with tying me up but we never discussed doing it with you” she was squeezing his cock a little and he was almost purring.

“How about we discuss that some other time?” he seemed like he suddenly remembered he had limbs and moved them to caress her breasts.

Bobbi raised an eyebrow at him and pushed him down on her bed, straddling his thighs and smiling like cocky bitch she was. “Do you even have anything to do that with?” he asked trying to sound resigned and not excited.  

“I can think of something.” She grinned at him and got off the bed to get his own belt.

“Really Bobbi?”

“Shush” She was ridiculously excited about this. She put his arms above his head and bounded the wrists together there and then attached them to one of the bedposts. It forced him to lay all the way across the bed but it was okay.

“You’re gonna torture me?”

She gave him a predatory grin. “No, but I’m gonna make you feel so good” She kneeled beside him on the bed giving herself easy access to his mouth. She touched his lips lightly with her own, teasing and not pressing, feeling him open his mouth, inviting her to grew bolder but she wasn’t in hurry. The tip of her tongue traced his bottom lip and the second he raised his head to get a proper kiss she pulled away, choosing to tease his neck instead. Hot opened mouthed kisses going right down to his chest.

As she reached it, she straddled him again, making sure not to touch his cock while she did so. She shook her hair behind her and made a show of taking of her bra, one strap at a time, drinking in her lover’s expression growing more lustful by the second. He looked like he regretted being tied up. Too late.

She bit her lip and leaned over him her forearms resting on both sides of his head, her nipples grazing his chest and making him buckle up his hips a little, she smiled and kissed him properly this time. The kiss was hard and passionate, making her even more turned on by him. She felt that he was rubbing his still clothed length against her and it was sliding right over her clit. It felt great but she wasn’t about to let them just dry hump so she steadied his hips with one of her hands and pulled away from the kiss.

“You’re cheating”  She whispered and sat back, touching her nipples with her fingers and playing the way he could see everything.

“So are you right now” He growled, trying to rub himself against her which earned him disapproving look and her sitting on his thighs.

“Really, Clint?” She moved her fingers from her breasts down to her panties and started drawing small circles around her clit. Slowly, delicately, sighing and moving on his lap. It sent little sparks of pleasure and honestly she could finish like this, just from touching her clit and looking at Clint’s tortured face.

She promised to make him feel amazing though so she slided off his lap and took of his boxers. His cock was hard and ready and she looked him straight in the eye when she brought her lips to the tip and licked at it softly. His breath hitched and she wanted more. Slowly bobbing her head she managed to get most of him in her mouth and still looking, sucked hard. She kept it up for a minute before leaning back to slide her tongue over the whole length. Clint was giving her quite a show with his writhing and moaning. And she loved every second. She was getting wet and it wasn’t that liked the act itself, she didn’t despise it and that’s all but Clint’s reactions and the knowledge that it felt this good for him was making up for it. She spent more time on the tip, licking and kissing and sucking gently because it made her lover literally growl, he was leaking by the time she finished and placed herself over his length. He opened his eyes, looking hazy with pleasure.

She lost her panties in the meantime and was now sitting over him, sliding over his cock and watching him with that ever present cocky grin.

“You okay there, sport?” her lips were swollen and he noticed, she could practically feel his cock moving with anticipation.

“I love you” he sighed.

“Thought so”  She sank down on his length and immediately started moving. She loved riding him, it gave her just the right amount of control. Her hands were roaming over his chest, nails leaving light marks on their trail and she all she could feel was him, in and out, touching all sensitive spots inside her. Before she realized she was moaning, loud and she was holding on his arms for dear life, quickening their pace and making them both pant. It was hard, it was fast it felt amazing. It wasn’t exactly enough, so she moved her hand and rubbed her sensitive flesh when she felt his pants growing shorter, the sign that he was about to finish. She didn’t want to yet but with every move of her fingers and his cock she felt getting higher and higher until all she could feel was pleasure exploding inside her when she came. He was right behind her, spilling inside of her, making a mess of her sheets.

They were both breathing hard when Bobbi freed him and then collapsed on his chest. “We made a mess” She hated that kind of mess.

“I know. You’re still on the pill, yeah?”

“Yep.”

They laid there in silence, waiting for their heartbeats to slow down, content to just not move for the rest of the day. Or the next round. He was stroking her back, her scar which she had from the chest wound and everything was so calm, Bobbi relished in it.  Clint raised his head a little, pushing her chin up with his hand so she would look at him.

“Marry me”

Bobbi looked at him with heavy eyelids, at his sincere expression and worried eyes. She chuckled but answered:

“Okay”

“I’m serious” He was looking at her with such a serious expression that she kissed him to make it disappear.

“So am I”

She held his gaze for a few seconds to let him know, she was serious and then they both smiled widely, laughing simply out of happiness, ready to celebrate the new chapter in their lives. Hopefully, a happy one.

 


End file.
